Real Talk Intervention

In today's episode, we take on the Texas science standards with our friend John Long, a former AP/IB/PAP biology teacher. We take on how we differentiate instruction both for at-risk students and for students who really need to be gearing up to take AP classes in a few years. And, of course, we address the ongoing controversy over those re-written evolution standards in Texas. How do those standards change our teaching?  Does the wording of the standards provide an opening for creationism in the public schools? Listen here, and don't forget to subscribe to our email list or on iTunes and Stitcher.

Accountability measures force us to take students not just from where they were to somewhere better but all the way We have been very vocal here at Real Talk Intervention about our support of school accountability measures, standardized testing in general, and the high school STAAR EOC tests specifically. Last month we took action and spoke before the Texas legislature in support of school accountability, specifically against HB 1333 The Teaching Over Testing Act. When we returned to our school from that trip, word of what we had done traveled fast. Many of our colleagues cheered on us, others weren't such fans of our opinions though they appreciated our moxie. But what really struck us was the reactions of the students - ours and other teachers - who watched the video of our testimony. A group of students came to both of us, stood before us, and said "Thank you. Thank you for telling them we weren't ready to graduate." Once students exit the doors of our high...

Today's special episode was recorded live and on location inside a Senate meeting room as we prepared to give testimony against Texas House Bill 1333, colloquially known as The Teaching Over Testing Act. This bill, which aims to reduce the number of standardized tests given by Texas to the federal minimum while also drastically reducing the emphasis these tests have on school accountability, has been well received by the state anti-testing movement. We, however, stand with the many civil rights groups , the Texas Association of Business , and the many, many nervous and silent teachers who know that the anti-testing, anti-accountability movement's well-intentioned, but misguided, efforts damage the hard work educators are doing to create a more equitable society across Texas. To give a voice to all the educators across Texas who feel as we do, we traveled to the state legislature with the support of a non-profit educational foundation group called Texas Aspires  to...

The human face of the school accountability movement is one no one wants to see. The human face is 18 years old. He has attended school for 90% of his Mondays through Fridays. She has ridden the bus for twelve years. Attended all the classes. And done it all with the entirely reasonable expectation that at the end of this journey lies the cap, the gown, and the high school diploma. And even the hardest of hard liners on the school accountability movement does not want to tell that student that at the end of these last twelve years there will be ... nothing. No one wants to tell anyone they can't achieve dreams. Particularly not politicians.  So things get ... tricky. A little schizophrenic. Requirements for graduation? Or are they more like guidelines really? In this week's podcast we discuss high school graduation requirements, and how Texas politicians are avoiding the public relations nightmare of thousands of students being denied high school...

We are honored this week to share with you the fascinating conversation we had with an exceptional young man - Ali. He is an entrepreneur and soon-to-be high school graduate who came to this country as a Iranian refugee only two years ago. Ali shared with us his experiences traveling all over the world as he escaped Iran and sought asylum in America, and, once here, his amazing journey from limited English proficiency to high school graduate in only two years. Ali is a young man with an incredible perspective and a message for all of us committed to helping students like him. Listen to his story and ignite your practice here . For more stories and inspiration for your student-centered classroom subscribe to us on iTunes or Stitcher or follow our blog here. Music courtesy of The Creative Commons http://www.bensound.com

You know that awkward moment when you’ve been blogging for about two weeks, and you look at your phone to see that one of the most prestigious English literacy gurus has tweeted at you to tell you you’re wrong? The first thing you do is turn your head and look at her books on your shelf that you’ve been using to guide your instruction – oh, and the curriculum development for the district – and then you completely freak out. And, yes, you start to question yourself. But here’s the thing. In our last podcast, we took issue with Sara Holbrook’s assertion that the STAAR test should not be asking readers to infer author’s purpose from text structure or other literary elements. We argued, basically, that this was one of the key features of text analysis, that, in fact, it broadens and enriches the reader’s experience of the text, and that it helps readers become writers. You can listen to our full conversation here . We knew there would be a response to this. What we didn’t ...

Last week Texas released the preliminary school grades under their new A-F accountability system. Superintendents across the state have come out publicly condemning this system. To say this one is controversial is putting it mildly. Stefanie and I researched the new accountability system for you, and we lay out some of the details of how this new system works. We also discuss what we think of this new ratings system, what it means for school districts, and what it means for intervention. You don't want to miss this one! Listen to our conversation here ! Follow us on Feedburner: feeds.feedburner.com/realtalkintervention Music provided by The Creative Commons. http://www.bensound.com